before it. Human rights are acquired slowly, and it may be many years before we shall know the full effect of the fourteenth amendment. At present it is possible to enumerate the following as the rights of federal citizenship,rights which flow from the Constitution, which belong to every citizen of the United States, and which cannot be denied by State authority: I. Due Process of Law. No person in the United States shall be deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of law. Here is a right which no State can abridge (151) and which the federal government itself cannot deny (152). A person seeking justice, whether in civil or criminal cases, under his right of due process may demand (1) that there be a court of law for the trial of his case; (2) that the proceedings of the trial be regular; (3) that the trial be fair. What the regular course of procedure in a State court shall be is a matter for the State itself to determine; but after the State has once decided upon the course that justice shall take, after it has once established the process of law, it cannot deprive any person of the benefits that arise from those processes. What due process in the federal courts is may be learned in the fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth amendments of the Constitution. II. Equal Protection of the Laws. "Every person within the jurisdiction of any State, whether he be rich or poor, humble or haughty, citizen or alien, is assured of the protection of equal laws (152)-applicable to all alike and impartially administered without favor or discrimination." (Guthrie.) III. Protection on the High Seas and in Foreign Countries. A citizen of the United States, in whatever part of the world he may be, is entitled to protection against injustice or injury, and this protection is a right of federal citizenship, and is extended by the federal government. IV. State Citizenship. Every citizen of the United States has a right to become a citizen of a State by a bona fide residence therein. The above rights have been declared by the federal Supreme Court to belong to every person who is a citizen of the United States. Add to these rights of federal citizenship the rights enumerated as belonging to State citizenship and you have a list of the most important civil rights of the American citizen. The Duties of Citizenship. The duties of citizenship are always equal to its rights. If I can hold a man to his contracts, I ought (I owe it) to pay my own debts; if I may worship as I please, I ought to refrain from persecuting another on account of his religion; if my own property is held sacred, I ought to regard the property of another man as sacred; if the government deals fairly with me and does not oppress me, I ought to deal fairly with it and refuse to cheat it; if I am allowed freedom of speech, I ought not to abuse the privilege; if I have a right to be tried by a jury, I ought to respond when I am summoned to serve as a juror; if I have a right to my good name and reputation, I ought not to slander my neighbor; if government shields me from injury, I ought to be ready to take up arms in its defense. Civil rights are inseparable from civil duties; the continued and full enjoyment of the former depends upon the fulfillment of the latter. Since duty is largely a matter of morals, good citizenship also would seem to be a question of morals. In the last analysis this is true. After all is said, good citizenship is reached only by the rough path of duty, and men will tread this path not because a legislature commands them, but because conscience leads them on. QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT 1. What is meant by civil rights? political rights? 2. What classes of people are citizens of the United States? 3. Describe the process of naturalization. 4. Explain how the rights of citizenship may differ in the different States. 5. Enumerate the civil rights guaranteed by the State. 6. What effect did the adoption of the fourteenth amendment have upon the character of citizenship in the United States? 7. Enumerate and describe the rights that grow out of federal citizenship. 8. What is the relation of civic right to civic duty? Name some of our civic duties. SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS AND EXERCISES 1. Examine the Constitution for answers to these questions: (1) Can a person be compelled in a federal court to be a witness against himself (138) (2) What are the rights of an accused person in a federal court (139) (3) What is the rule in federal courts in reference to witnesses (140) ? (4) What is the rule in reference to trial by jury (141) (5) In reference to bail (142) ↑ 2. Under the fourteenth amendment what are the rights of an alien? Enumerate your individual rights as these are declared in the constitution of your State. 3. Political philosophers frequently speak of natural rights. What is the root meaning of the word natural? Name the rights which you would be inclined to class as natural. 4. What is meant by the "inalienable rights'' mentioned in the Declaration of Independence? 5. Joined with every right there is a duty. Name the duty which belongs to each of the rights of American citizenship. 6. Discover, if you can, a social or civil right to which there is not a duty attached. 7. Has a student a right to study so hard that his health is injured thereby? 8. Do you as minors enjoy all the civil rights? Name those of which you are deprived. 9. What does the constitution of the State say about aliens? A Hint on Reading.-W. D. Guthrie, "The Fourteenth Amendment.'' XIV POLITICAL RIGHTS AND DUTIES The Origin of Political Rights. Political rights invest the citizen with the privilege of participating in government, and consist of the right of voting at elections and of holding public office. These rights are an outgrowth of the struggle for civil rights. In that struggle the people learned that a privileged ruling class could not be trusted. They saw that if their rights were to be respected, government must pass either into their own hands or into the hands of their chosen agents. Therefore in order that they might protect their civil rights they demanded the reins of government. At first the privilege of voting and holding office was granted only to the leaders among the people, to the high-born and wealthy and learned. Later a middle class consisting of small property-holders, tradesmen and artisans and professional people, saw that its interests would be promoted by a participation in government. It demanded political rights and obtained them. Finally the propertyless men and the ignorant men began to think that their civil rights would be worth more to them if they had the right to vote. They asked for the right and it was granted to them. From first to last, therefore, political rights have grown out of men's efforts to preserve and promote their civil rights. The Elective Franchise. The suffrage, or the right of voting, is sometimes regarded as a natural right, as a right inherent in citizenship. Men will say that you might as well deny the right of acquiring property or of defending one's person from attack, as to deny the right of suffrage. This view is justified neither by the facts of history nor by the present policy of government. The right to vote is a franchise or privilege granted by the state to such citizens as are deemed worthy of possessing it. For a long time governments were accustomed to sell the elective franchise for a sum of money. Thus in the early days of New York City a man was not allowed to vote until he had first paid twenty-five dollars into the city treasury. With the growth of popular government the custom of selling the franchise was discontinued, and the right of voting was conferred upon certain citizens because they possessed certain qualifications. At the time of the Revolution a most important qualification was the possession of property. Before a man could vote, he must be possessed of a certain income or a certain amount of land. With the progress of democracy in the nineteenth century the property qualification was gradually removed. In the United States at the present time the qualifications of a voter relate chiefly to age, sex and nativity, although in a few instances an educational or property qualification is still required. Whatever the qualifications may be, it ought to be noticed that they are imposed by government, and that the elective franchise is a privilege which may be granted or withheld, and is not a right which the citizen enjoys simply because he is a citizen. Political Rights Conferred by State Authority. Authority for granting the suffrage and defining the qualifications of voters resides chiefly in the State. The only restriction upon the power of the State to regulate the elective franchise is found in the fifteenth amendment to the Constitution, where it is declared that the right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be abridged by any State on account of race, color or previous condition of servitude (159). As long as the State does not violate this amend |